FIB, Chapter 8

Three hours later Dean pulled Alex’s Trans Am into her driveway as Sam pulled the Impala up the curb in front of the house. After he taking the keys out of the ignition, Dean sighed and got out of the car, walking towards the front door. As he walked along the cement path leading to the door, he noticed Sam was sitting by the back end of the Impala with the towel pressed up against his neck. Dean could tell his brother was feeling guilty, which was why he didn’t come up to the door with him.

After knocking twice, Dean waited and heard footsteps. The door opened and Dean saw not Alex, but Kyle, who was holding Hana.

“Hey, Kyle. Is Alex around?” Dean smiled when he saw Hana reaching her chubby little arm out to him.

“She’s at work,” Kyle hesitated for a minute while adjusting Hana in his arms. “Did you need something?”

“We, uh,”—he gestured to his brother—“wanted to talk to Alex. I know you’re mad at us… Especially Sam, but we need to talk to her… I need to talk to her.”

Kyle nodded his head, looking at Hana. When he looked over to where Sam was, he noticed the towel up against Sam’s neck and the blood and dirt all over his clothes.

“Is your brother all right?”

Dean turned to see Sam, who wasn’t looking so good. “He, uh, got hurt on the job. I think he might need a few stitches. I don’t know.”

“Bring him inside. I got something that will help,” he said as he started walking back inside his house.

“He’ll be fine, we’ll just drive over to that clinic and get him checked out.”

“I insist. Besides, Alex would want me to.” Kyle set Hana down in her playpen and walked to the bathroom to get some supplies, as Dean waved for Sam to come inside the house.

Sam slowly made his way to across the front lawn and up to the front door. “What’s going on? Where’s Alex?” Sam asked as he walked over to the couch and sat down.

“Work,” Dean explained as he closed the door. Seeing the look on Sam’s face, Dean continued, “Kyle offered to help patch you up.”

Sam was now even more confused, but when he heard Kyle coming, he tried not to show his discomfort.

Kyle had brought out a first aid kit and set it down on the coffee table in front of Sam. He pulled out some rubber gloves, which made both brothers share a glance.

“It’s easier to clean up. Otherwise I have to wash my hands before and after,” he explained.

Dean simply nodded in agreement.

“Let’s see,” Kyle nodded towards Sam’s neck.

Sam carefully removed the towel and let Kyle get a better look.

“Huh,” Kyle replied before he started digging through the box.

“Huh?” Dean asked,” What does that mean?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head and sighed. “It just looks exactly like the bruise on Alex’s neck, which means she was right, her nightmares are getting worse.” He opened an alcoholic wipe and started cleaning the area around the wound, causing Sam to hiss in pain. “Sorry,” Kyle mumbled.

Dean walked over to Hana, sitting down in a chair next to her. “Have you decided to tell her about the curse yet?”

Kyle paused for a minute as he held a needle in his hands. “I already told her.”

Dean and Sam looked at each other, a little surprised by his decision.

“When?” Dean asked.

“This afternoon.” Kyle shook his head in disappointment. “I should have told her a long time ago.” He looked at the needle and back up to Sam. “Ready?”

“Uh, yeah.” Sam still felt uneasy about the situation, and could tell Kyle did too. He felt the needle prick his neck and tried to keep his head steady.

“How’d she take it?” Dean asked, reaching a hand in to the playpen and picked up a rattle. He shook it a few times, making Hana giggle before he handed it over to her.

“Well, she wasn’t happy, but I’m still alive.” Kyle finished stitching Sam up in a few minutes and taped some gauze over the stitches. “I’m all done,” he told Sam.

“Thanks,” Sam replied.

Kyle nodded as he stood up and took off his gloves, tossing them into a wastebasket by the front door. He went back over to the table and cleaned up the mess.

“Alright,” Dean said, standing up, “I think we’re gonna head over to the bar.”

“Hey, don’t go there just yet.” Kyle picked up the first aid kit.

“Why?”

“There’s something you should see, and if you go too early you might not see it. Just make sure you get there a few minutes before eight, ok?”

Dean looked at his watch, seeing it was five in the afternoon. “Ok, what’s happening at eight?”

“Just trust me. I’ll meet you there.” Kyle started walking towards the bathroom with his supplies.

Dean turned to Sam, confused. “What could be so important on a Thursday night?” he pondered as he scratched his head.

Kyle came back from the bathroom, seeing the guys were getting ready to leave. “Hold up a second. Could you do me a huge favor? I just remembered that I have some errands to run, and I need somebody to watch Hana for me. You guys could stay here to make things easier,” he offered and then added, “We got some sandwiches in the fridge. You can help yourselves.”

“We’d be more than to happy to,” Dean grinned.

Sam looked at his brother and shook his head even though his neck was still sore.

“What? I love Hana,” Dean said and walked over and picked her up in his arms. “See? Love,” Dean said as he snuggled Hana up to his face with a cheesy grin.

“Right.” Sam knew his brother too well. Even though he knew Dean loved Hana, he knew the deal breaker was the free sandwiches.

Kyle left after he got his jacket and kissed Hana on the head. He took off in his jeep and pulled over on a secluded road, where hopped out and went to the back of his car. After double checking to make sure nobody saw him, Kyle unzipped his jacket and tossed it into the back. He then grabbed a black duffle and opened it up, pulling out a grey jumper. He slipped it on and zipped it up before closing up his trunk and climbing back into the driver’s seat.

Kyle drove to the next town over where he found the building he was looking for. After parking the car behind the building he grabbed a cap sitting in the passenger seat, and put it on his head. The words “maintenance crew” where printed in black, matching the letters on his jumper above the left breast pocket.

Kyle dug through his pockets and pulled out a badge with the name Jim Sprouse next to his photo, and clipped it on to his left pocket. He got out of the car and tucked the hat down lower as he grabbed a toolbox from the backseat.

Walking past the back door, Kyle found a black box and pulled out a set of keys that he had made when the owner had him fix the wooden railing to the second floor. Before he did anything else he pulled out a pair of gloves from his back pocket and slipped them on.

Kyle easily disabled the security system, including the hidden cameras. He was used to doing this sort of thing, and it came as second nature to him. He unlocked the door and closed it behind him, pocketing the keys as he walked down the long hallway. Knowing where he was going, he made a right where a flight of stairs where. When he reached the third floor, Kyle opened the door and entered another hallway. He stopped for a second to check the black board on the wall for the correct room number, before heading down the hallway.

About halfway down the hall, he turned left into a smaller hallway, where he checked each door for their room number. He came up to room 339, pulling his keys out again and unlocking the door. There was a small waiting room with two couches and two chairs lining the walls, along with a wooden reception desk. There, Kyle sat his tool box down and turned on the computer. He logged onto the computer and saw the password screen come up. Within minutes he was logged onto the computer with a satisfied smirk on his face. He found the patients files and found Alex’s and deleted everything, making sure no records of her where left on the computer. After he was done there and shut down the computer, he unlocked the main office and walked over to three black filling cabinets that were lined up behind a large wooden desk.

Not having the keys to unlock them, he opened the tool box and pulled out his lock pick. Kyle checked the labels on the cabinets and found the one he knew Alex’s file would be in. Once he unlocked it and found the file, he unzipped his jumper, folded the file in half and tucked it into an inner pocket before zipping back up.

Kyle sighed in relief and put his stuff away. While he was standing there, he heard the door to the waiting room open. He grabbed something out of the tool box and hid behind the door to the office. Kyle stayed silent and waited as he heard somebody enter the office and walk over to the desk.

“I hope you know who you’re dealing with,” the mystery man said as he looked inside Kyle’s tool box. “Or should I say ‘what?” The man turned around smirked at Kyle, his eyes going black.

Kyle smiled as he gripped the object in his hands tighter, “Oh, I know. In fact, I was hoping you would show up, Dr.Kingston.”

“Oh really? And why’s that? You have a death wish or something?” He took a step closer to Kyle.

“No. But I think you might.” Kyle aimed a gun at the demon and shot it with holy water. He borrowed Alex’s squirt gun, figuring it would come in handy.

The demon fell back against the desk in pain as Kyle shot him. Kyle moved towards the demon and kicked him to the ground hard and shot at him again. When he was close enough to the desk he grabbed something else out of his box. In his right hand he held a wooden stake with symbols engraved in the sides.

The demon got to his knees and punched Kyle in the gut. He went for a second blow, but Kyle was too fast. He plunged the stake into the demon’s heart and the body flickered and glowed as he struggled to breathe. “Sorry Doc, but we no longer need your services.” When the glowing stopped, Kyle pulled the stake out and pushed the body to the ground before standing up. Kyle walked to a sink that was in the back corner of the office where he washed the blood off of the stake. He packed everything back into his tool box and walked out of the office and eventually leaving the building. Before he got in his jeep, he went back to the black box and turned the security system back on. He smiled at a job well done and knowing his car was parked out of the range of the camera.

Kyle pulled the folder out of his jumper and set it down in the trunk while he took off his jumper and hat, stuffing them into the black duffle. After snagging his jacket and putting it back on, Kyle grabbed the folder and closed the trunk. He climbed into the driver’s seat, started up the engine and drove back home.

Sam heard a car pull in the driveway and checked his watch. Kyle had been gone for a little over an hour. Sam put Hana back in her playpen and walked over to the couch where he left his coat.

Dean was finishing off his can of soda that he drank with a sandwich he had earlier. Although now the only thing left were a few crumbs on his plate. “Is he back?”

“Yeah. You done?” Sam asked as he put on his jacket. He didn’t feel like sticking around, knowing Kyle was upset with him. Not that Sam could blame him. He understood why Kyle was mad and knew he deserved it.

“Yeah,” Dean stood up from a stool in the kitchen and set his plate in the sink right as Kyle walked in. “So, are you all done? Because we really should head back to the motel and get our things,” he explained to Kyle.

“Don’t worry; I got everything done that I needed to do,” he said as he dropped a folder onto the kitchen counter. “You are free to go.”

Dean and Sam both saw Alex’s name on the folder with a small drop of blood on it, and glanced each other before looking at Kyle.

“Something tells me you didn’t go grocery shopping,” said Dean.

“Let’s just say that we have a lot in common.”

Dean raised his eyebrows in surprise, as did Sam. “You mean, you’re a…”

“Yep.”

“Does Alex know?” Sam asked.

Kyle nodded his head. “Also told her that one today, too. But I would really appreciate it if you guys don’t tell anyone. I’ve been trying to lay low and live a normal life. Especially after we got married.”

Sam and Dean both agreed.

“How long you been a hunter?” Dean asked.

“A little over fifteen years. I started when I was eight. Alex’s dad told my grandma about Alex’s curse, knowing he wasn’t going to be around. He always came to her for research, so he knew if anyone could find a cure, it would be her. Hunters would come to her for advice or research. She used to be one of the best back in her day. But when she married my grandpa…” Kyle trailed off and cleared his throat. “She gave up that life. Now she only helps me mostly. My grandma taught me everything I needed to know.”

“So is Brad a hunter too?” Sam asked out of curiosity.

“No, but he knows about the supernatural. He just doesn’t want to fight it,” Kyle explained, “He’s a wimp like that.”

Dean chuckled, remembering Brad calling for his grandmother before Alex’s wedding, when Kyle threatened to punch him. Now Dean knew why.

“Alright, well, we’re gonna go. Thanks for the sandwich,” Dean said as he and Sam headed towards the front door.

“You’re welcome, and thanks for watching Hana for me. I really appreciate it,” he said as he followed them to the door.

“Anytime,” Dean said.

“Oh, and don’t forget-“

“J&J’s bar at eight o’clock,” Dean finished. “We’ll be there.”

“Actually, I was going to remind you that you had a pile of clothes in the laundry room.”

“Yeah, I got that already. See ya at eight,” Dean said before he closed the door behind him.

Sam and Dean left the house and got into the Impala. Dean put his keys into the ignition and turned to Sam.

“A hunter?” he asked in disbelief. “Alex married a hunter?”

Sam shrugged, “She could have done worse.”

Dean gave him a skeptical look.

“She could have married a serial killer.”

Dean paused for a minute and finally said, “Good point.”

“Besides, aren’t you a little relieved knowing that Alex has somebody to protect her that knows what they’re doing?”

“Another good point.” Dean started driving towards their motel. “Hey, Sam?”

Sam turned to his brother, the pain in his neck dulling down now that the aspirin was finally kicking in.

“What could possibly be going on at a bar on a Thursday night? Don’t people usually just sit around at home and watch TV or something?”

FIB, Chapter 7

Alex stared at Kyle, trying to understand what he just said. “Is this a joke?” she finally asked after a few minutes passed by.

“I wish it was,” he said with sympathy.

Alex nodded her head. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was getting injuries in similar places from her nightmares that were real, and she was hearing thoughts, Alex would have thought Kyle was messing with her. “How long have you known?”

“… Eleven years,” Kyle hesitated.

Widening her eyes in shock, Alex backed away from Kyle’s touch. “You’ve kept this from me for eleven years?”

Kyle heard the hint of anger in her question and quickly explained, “Your dad made me promise never to tell you. He just wanted you to be happy and live a normal life.” Seeing the skeptical look on her face, he added, “Alex, we did this for your own good.”

“Right. Well, thank you for that,” she replied with sarcasm. “I went to therapy over this!”

“I thought it would help you get through Dean’s death! I didn’t think you would tell your therapist about the curse!” Kyle said in defense, and knowing how much this was hurting her.

“I didn’t even know I was cursed, so how would I have known not to tell him?! Not like I can read minds or anything. Oh wait! I can!”

Kyle took a deep breath to calm himself down as he rubbed his hands down his face. “I’m sorry. I just wanted you to feel normal, I swear. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Alex stood up and walked over to a dresser before turning around to face her husband. “Whenever I told him about my nightmares, he would give me this judging look. Like he was trying to figure out whether I was insane or not. Do you have any idea what that’s like? To be looked at like that?” She paused looking at Kyle. “You know what the sad thing is? If you just told me upfront about this, years ago, I could have told you everything from the start, and I wouldn’t be mad at you or feel like an idiot for telling my doctor those things.”

“I’m sorry,” Kyle stood up and reached his arm out to her, but she took a step back. “Alex, please.”

“No,” she backed away again. “I have to get ready for work.”

“Alex, you don’t start work for another two hours.” He watched as Alex closed her eyes, trying to think of something to do. “You know I never meant to hurt you… right?”

Alex finally looked up at Kyle. “I know… It’s just a lot to take in.”

Kyle let out a sigh and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face before pulling her into a small hug. “I wanted to tell you so many times, but I was just afraid that you would think I was the crazy one. Especially since the curse didn’t really start until a year ago.”

Wrinkling her forehead in confusion, Alex pulled out of the hug to look Kyle in the eye. “But you said you knew for eleven years. Why would it start recently?”

“You know that necklace your mother gave you?” He pointed to the one she was wearing and explained everything to Alex.

At first glance, Kyle thought it would ruin their relationship. He thought Alex wouldn’t be able to trust him, and he was afraid of how she would react. In the end Alex was still upset, but she wasn’t mad at him. She was mad at her father.

Kyle did keep one thing from her. He knew she wasn’t emotionally ready to know that her father sold his soul so she could live. That information would have just broken her heart. And after what she went through with Dean’s death, he knew she wouldn’t be emotionally stable.

However there was one more secret that he needed to tell her. Kyle took a deep breath, looked Alex in the eye and told her.

Alex stared at him and laughed to herself. “I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming.”

“You’re not angry?” he asked hesitating. “I thought for sure you would give me a black eye for that one.”

“I probably should, but that is the least of my worries at the moment.”

Kyle nodded his head in understanding, and then he noticed a smile on Alex’s face. “Why are smiling? You just found I’ve been lying to you-?”

“I know. But it’s just… I feel like we cleaned the slate. Started over. It feels good to know that there are no more secrets.” Alex’s face got serious. “There aren’t any more secrets, right?”

Kyle smiled and simply said, “No.”

They both went upstairs to check on Hana. Kyle had gone out to his jeep to get something from his trunk, leaving Alex alone with Hana. Looking at her daughter, Alex worried about her curse as she got another headache.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dean quickly got to his feet as he saw Bobby helping Sam get up and out of the spreading fire. They were in a clearing made by the vampires, which helped prevent them from catching on fire, but Luisa’s post was already starting to burn. Her screams caught Dean’s attention and he ran over to her. He frantically untied her ropes as he felt the heat from the flames get closer to them. The air was fogged over from the smoke as the dry crops started to burn, causing Dean to wheeze and cough.

When the last rope fell to the ground, Dean picked Luisa up in his arms and glanced over to where Sam and Bobby had been, but they were gone. Knowing they got out of their safely, Dean carried Luisa out of the cornfield as quick as he could. Once he worked his way past the last of the cornstalks, he went over to the nearest tree to set her down.

As Dean let go, he immediately turned around to chase after the rest of the vampires, only to have Matt tackle him to the ground. Dean shoved him off and tried grabbing the machete that had flung out of his grip.

Seeing what Dean was trying to reach, Matt decked him in the face. “You should have left her alone!”

Matt brought his gaping mouth to Dean’s neck and got ready to bite down, but Dean was too quick for him. Dean clenched Matt’s throat and started pushing him up, just enough that Dean was able to punch him in the mouth. A few of his teeth fell out and broke, making him scream in pain. Dean flipped Matt off of him and rolled on top, pinning him to the ground. As Dean held Matt down he heard Sam run up to his side.

“Look out!” Sam warned as he raised the machete over his head.

Acting fast, Dean whipped his head up, holding Matt’s shoulders as Sam swung down with the machete, cutting off Matt’s head. Blood splattered on Dean’s hands on impact.

Both brothers took a moment to catch their breath, staring at the headless vampire. As Dean finally got to his feet he watched his little brother walk over to Luisa and help her stand up.

“Thank you,” Luisa looked up at Sam and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

At that moment, Bobby pulled up with his car and stepped out. As he walked over to Sam and Dean, he noticed the body on the ground.

“Take it they all didn’t leave?”

“Yeah,” Dean responded looking over to Sam and Luisa. “Hey, you guys alright?”

Sam was still holding his neck. “Think I need a few stitches. What about you, Luisa?”

“I’ll be fine, thanks to you. But I could use a ride to my car.”

“Bobby, you mind?” Sam asked nodding towards Luisa.

“Sure thing,” he smiled as Sam walked Luisa to his car.

Sam held the door as Luisa climbed into the car, but she stopped him before he could close it.

“What if they come looking for me again? Shouldn’t we go find them?”

Sam looked at the house and shook his head. “I don’t think they will. Seemed like it was mostly Matt that was interested in you. Kate used you as bait to get to us. I don’t think she wanted to go after you.” Sam gave her a smile. “You should be safe.”

“But you killed him, so wouldn’t she be upset?”

“If she really did care, she probably wouldn’t have left without him.”

Luisa nodded her head and let Sam close the door. After they said goodbye, Dean and Sam headed back towards their cars. Dean noticed a puzzled look on Sam’s face.

“What?”

“How did you know I was in trouble?”

Dean smirked and replied, “Because any time you wander off on your own you seem to wind up in trouble and I have to save your sorry ass.”

Ignoring the last part, Sam pressed further, “Seriously. How did you know that they were vampires?”

Dean stopped in front of the trunk to his car. “It was Alex.” He then motioned for Sam to hand over the keys, so he could open the trunk.

Sam stared at with a look of confusion on his face as he gave him the keys. “Alex?”

“She heard you call for help and she, uh…” Dean hesitated for a moment as he put the machetes back with the rest of the weapons. He still couldn’t believe everything that had happened that day. “She felt you get bit on the neck when she took a nap.”

“She what?” Sam asked in disbelief. Did he hear him right? Alex could hear him? How?

Dean grabbed a towel to wipe the blood off of his hands and tossed it over to Sam. “Yeah, her curse is getting stronger. A lot stronger.” Dean looked over at Sam who closed his eyes and sighed. “What is it?”

Sam cursed under his breath as he tossed the towel back into the trunk.

“Sam. What?” When his brother didn’t respond right away, Dean asked, “Does this have anything to do with why Kyle didn’t want you at their house?”

Sam spoke softly. “…Yeah.”

Dean closed the trunk and faced his brother. “What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything to her,” Sam said finally looking at Dean.

“Well, you must have done something to piss off Kyle.”

Sam stayed silent, but Dean’s patients were already worn thin and he couldn’t wait any longer.

“Well…?” he pressed for an answer. He already knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear.

“Alex called me up for days after you died… I never answered.” Sam leaned against the back of the Impala and stared at the house through the trees.

Dean shook his head, but knew it would only get worse, so he didn’t comment just yet.

“Then one night I was really messed up and went to a bar. I had a few drinks and ended up calling her.”

“What did you say?”

Sam stayed quiet, already regretting everything that had happened.

“Sam!” Dean yelled to get his brother’s attention, moving closer to him at the same time. “What did you say to her?”

“I told her that you were dead and that if she really cared; she would have helped find a way to save you.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Dean stepped in front of his brother. “You put that weight on her shoulders?!”

Sam looked away in shame. “There’s more.”

“Oh, this ought to be good,” Dean said sarcastically as he folded his arms. His face was tense as he glared at his brother.

“I told her if she really wanted to help me then…” Sam hesitated again.

Dean dropped his hands to his sides and moved closer to his brother. “Sam, I swear if you don’t tell me-!”

Sam cut him off, making eye contact again, “I told her to go to hell, Dean. Alright? I told our only cousin to go to hell and find you.”

Dean shook his head and backed away. “That explains the therapy.”

“What? You’re blaming me-“

Dean cut off Sam this time, “Alex saw me in hell, Sam.” He saw the shocked look on Sam’s face and continued, “She FELT what I was going through every time she fell asleep. She called you up, knowing you were the only person who could relate to her—to having VISIONS—and you kicked her while she was down! You told her to go to hell when she already was!” Dean was silent for a minute and reconsidered what he had said. “Well, she kind of was in hell. Whenever she fell asleep at least.”

“Dean, I didn’t know. I was drunk. I wish I could take it back.”

“I’m guessing you never called her back to apologize either.” When Sam turned away, Dean immediately knew the answer. “Unbelievable… Didn’t you even wonder what was wrong with her? Wonder if her curse got any stronger or if she was danger?”

“Dean. I’m sorry. I screwed up, ok?” Sam knew his brother was disappointed in him and was hurt to know what happened with Alex.

Dean shook his head,” Don’t apologize to me, Sam. I’m not the one you hurt.”

“Dean-“ Sam tried to talk to with him, but Dean wouldn’t have it.

“You know what? Forget it. Let’s just go back and let her know that you’re alive.” Dean tossed Sam the keys to the Impala. “I’m not really in the mood for this anyways.” He climbed into Alex’s car and turned up the radio to clear up his thoughts… It didn’t help.